Texas City, TX Data Centers & Crypto Mining: Data Center Zoning & Siting (2026)

Ord. 2025-06, passed August 6, 2025, created Chapter 162 to regulate Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) and similar project sites. Section 162.02 defines SIMILAR PROJECTS as data centers and similar high energy demand installations which may or may not return energy to the grid, and provides that applicability of the chapter is determined by the Director of Engineering and Planning at the time of application. Data centers are named nowhere else in the code as exported, and crypto mining is not named at all, so this chapter is the only place a data center is addressed.

Section 162.03(A) restricts BESS facilities and similar uses to locations zoned District S-P, Site Plan, under Section 160.051. Section 160.051(C)(1)(b)14 adds that the basic district most closely comparable to these projects is District F, Light Industrial, but that site-specific review under District S-P is required in all districts, including District F. The Planning Board and Zoning Commission and the City Commission each have broad discretion over the development and its intended use and operation. Section 162.03(B) requires installations to be unmanned and prohibits on-site office or shop facilities, while allowing equipment storage and maintenance facilities that are not permanently attended.

Section 162.04 requires a Development Plan filed with the Engineering and Planning Department with a $5,000 application fee, in addition to fees for zoning change, platting, building permits or certificates of occupancy. The plan must include a site plan showing distances to adjacent property lines and structures, a landscaping and screening plan, elevations and renderings, and a reimbursement agreement for the city's third party expert.

Section 162.05 sets location standards written for BESS sites: BESS sites no closer than 1,500 feet to another BESS site, a perimeter fence setback of at least 200 feet from the nearest property zoned for single-family uses or a school, and no installation in a FEMA designated Special Flood Hazard Area. Because the chapter's spacing and setback text speaks of BESS sites, the Director's applicability decision determines how these numbers apply to a data center proposal.